1. Field of the Invention
The following descriptions relate to an image processor including a consumable product and a main body that the consumable product is attachable thereto and detachable therefrom.
2. Description of Related Art
Image processors are known to include a toner cartridge configured to store toner therein and a main body to which the toner cartridge is detachably attachable. In such an image processor, a controller provided in the main body of the image processor may determine an amount of toner consumed based on the number of sheets that have been printed.
The toner cartridge is configured to be attachable to and detachable from the main body of the image processor. Thus, the toner cartridge currently-used in the image processor may be removed therefrom and may be attached to other image processor to be used therein. In this case, the other image processor may not accurately determine an amount of toner remaining in the used toner cartridge.
In order to resolve the above problem, a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, which can store various information therein, may be provided to a toner cartridge so that the controller provided in the main body of the image processor may accurately determine an amount of toner remaining in the toner cartridge based on the information stored in the RFID tag. For example, an apparatus serial number, which is rewritable by the controller when necessary, and specific tag information are stored in the RFID tag of the toner cartridge, and the tag information read from the installed toner cartridge and a specific apparatus serial number are recorded in storage provided in the main body. The controller may be configured to determine whether the toner cartridge has been replaced with another one by comparing the tag information and the apparatus serial number stored in the RFID tag with the tag information and the apparatus serial number stored in the storage of the main body, respectively. By doing so, the information of whether the toner cartridge has been replaced may be available to the determination of the amount of toner remaining in the toner cartridge. Thus, it may be possible to accurately determine the amount of toner remaining in the toner cartridge.